Barrington takes St. Viator's best shot
Opening-match jitters?
Not Tuesday night at Cahill Gymnasium in Arlington Heights.
In a game that had more of a postseason feel than an early season contest featuring two of the area's better teams, Barrington and St. Viator duked it out like a couple of heavyweights.
The host Lions extended the perennial state contender Broncos to three grueling games before Barrington finally scored a 28-26, 25-27, 23-25 victory in Arlington Heights.
"Viator put up a great fight," said Broncos outside hitter Adam Glader. "This was a good win because we're just getting used to each other."
Colin Castagna led Barrington on attack with 8 kills, while teammate Connor Wright hit 7 kills and 4 aces.
"Connor did a nice job tonight," said Broncos coach Rob Ridenour. "As a team we struggled from the service line, but Connor was a bright spot. He was fantastic."
Senior Ethan Wolf had a game high 17 kills for Viator, which led by 4 points late in the third set but couldn't hold on.
"I'm disappointed with the outcome," said Lions coach Chris Boylan,"but I'm very happy with the way we performed. We have a lot of new guys and really only two players with varsity experience, and they did a lot of good things out there tonight."
Barrington (1-0) fought off five game points in the first set, then took the match lead when Wright smashed an ace.
Set two was highlighted by an athletic play by libero Indy Nenn, who's lunging dig turned into a Barrington point when his knock fell just over the net. The amazing save gave the Broncos a solid lead midway through, but this time it was Viator's turn to rally.
The Lions (0-1) knotted the match at one set apiece on a late kill by Wolf, then the home team took a commanding 20-16 lead in the deciding game.
"At that stage," said Glader, "we told each other not to focus on our mistakes - just have short-term memory loss and get on to the next point."
The Bronocs ran off 8 of the next 11 points and closed out the match on a kill by Glader.
"I chalk that up to our inexperience," said Boylan. "We got the lead and just froze. We were trying to do the perfect thing instead of just playing the game."
St. Viator junior setter Vito Brunetti played a strong match with 17 assists and 4 aces on 22-of-22 from the service line, while Nenn recorded 13 digs for the Broncos.
"This was very intense," said Ridenour. "We were put in some pressure situations, especially serving and passing, that you just can't simulate in practice."